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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Cranch, Richard, 1726-1811 to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.03134 Author/Creator: Cranch, Richard, 1726-1811 Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 30 April 1785 Pagination: 1 p. : address : docket Height: 32.2 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Recommends his nephew Joseph Cranch for appointment by Knox, Secretary at War. Relates the details of Joseph's life, including the loss of both of his parents at an early age. Joseph sold his land in England and opened up a shop in Boston that was seized by the British during the Revolutionary War. Recommends his nephew as a worthy gunsmith, and asks if Knox can "procure an Employment for him in the Armourer's Department that might enable him to gain a decent Livelyhood after his great sufferings, in the common cause..."

Cranch, Richard, 1726-1811
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Cranch, Joseph, 1769-1791

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